I am starting to finish the basement in my new house and the house was built with LVL beams and I joists. Can I nail directly to both of these with my top plate? What size nails should I use? Also, do I need to box around the LVL beams with a sofit or can I attach the drywall directly to the beam?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Replies
You should be able to nail to the I-joists with no problem. Drywalling the beam should also be no problem.
Thank you. That helps.
I would seriously consider paying a visit to the manufacturer's website(s) and note specifications, methods, etc. Who makes the LVLs and I-Joists in your home?
A word of caution. Are you in an area with expansive soils? If so you may wish to check your slab design. We did one recently where the engineer made us allow for slab movement ( rise and fall )and compensate by not allowing the top plate to meet the beams or joists. ( we had to keep the top plate short 2 inches and fix to the joists and beams with long screws that went through an oversize hole in the top plate)